health

Thousands of SA students could miss out on free meningococcal vaccines.

By Tom Fedorowytsch

About 4,000 South Australian students could miss out on free vaccines for meningococcal B, because their schools have yet to sign up to a government-backed trial.

This year, students in Years 10, 11 and 12 are eligible for free immunisations, in an effort to build up what is known as “herd immunity” to the dangerous disease.

The trial has been organised by the University of Adelaide and SA Health, through the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and covers the cost of the expensive and difficult-to-find vaccine.

A total of 209 public and private schools have signed up, but the hospital’s Professor Helen Marshall said several had not, meaning 4,000 young people could end up not being vaccinated.

“It’s a good opportunity for all students to be involved in the study, and ideally … we’d like schools that are a bit unsure or undecided to contact us, so we can work through any concerns or problems,” she said.

“We do have to respect that schools are a busy place … but we see immunisation as a really important area.”

Professor Marshall advised concerned parents to contact their children’s schools.

The next step for participating schools is to hand out parental consent forms, and from April the vaccinations would be given by nurses similar to other immunisations.

ADVERTISEMENT

“It’s really important for parents and students to read those consent forms, for the ‘B Part of It’ study and we really encourage you to be involved,” Professor Marshall said.

‘B’ strain dominant in SA.

Vaccines for the C-strain of meningococcal have been subsidised for several years, while Western Australia has announced free immunisations for the W-strain.

Professor Marshall supported the move, but said the W-strain was less common in South Australia, which has much higher rates of B-strain cases.

“We’ve seen a few [W] cases in South Australia, but over 80 per cent of cases are B-strain,” she said.

“We seem to have a different picture of meningococcal disease to the rest of the country, but it’s interesting to see the other states having that program just as we are here.”

Up to 10 per cent of meningococcal cases in Australia are fatal.

South Australia’s Education Minister, Susan Close, said schools had until February 14 to enrol in the trial.

“Too many young South Australians are affected by this terrible disease and I urge schools, parents and eligible students to access the vaccine for free through this study,” she said.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.


© 2017 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved. Read the ABC Disclaimer here